What’s New in WordPress 5.6 (Features and Screenshots)

WordPress 5.6 was released earlier today, and it is the last major release of 2020.

This new release is packed with a lot of improvements and new features. It also includes a brand new default WordPress theme.

In this article, we’ll share what’s new in WordPress 5.6, and which features you should try after updating your websites.

WordPress 5.6 is a major release, and unless you are on a managed WordPress hosting service, you’ll have to manually initiate the update.

Important: Don’t forget to create a complete WordPress backup before initiating the update.

With that said, here’s all that’s new in WordPress 5.6.

Twenty Twenty-One – The New Default WordPress Theme

WordPress traditionally releases a new default theme each year which is usually named after the year. WordPress 5.6 comes with Twenty Twenty-One as the new default WordPress theme.

This new theme provides a canvas for the WordPress block editor and the site editing features. It is designed to be simple, aesthetically pleasing, un-opinionated, and refreshing.

Twenty Twenty-One uses a pastel green background color, and two shades of dark grey for text. It also ships with colors for the dark mode which can be enabled by customizing the theme.

You can also change the background color by choosing from several pastel color schemes or choose your own colors. The theme will automatically adjust text color as well.

Here is a preview of what these built-in color combinations would look like.

For typography, designers opted to go with the default system fonts. This means no extra font files to load and easy to build child themes that have their own typography and fonts.

If you are testing the theme with a fresh WordPress website, then you can try out the new homepage layout. Simply go to the Appearance » Customize page and click on the Publish button to generate basic website pages including a homepage.

This sample homepage gives you an idea of what you can do with the block editor. You can simply edit the page and replace it with your own content.

Earlier this year, WordPress 5.5 introduced patterns for the block editor. Twenty Twenty-One utilizes this feature by adding new block patterns that you can use in your posts and pages.

Overall this is a beautiful WordPress theme, that is easy to customize and can be used to make any type of website.

The Block Editor Improvements

The WordPress content editor is where users spend most of their time writing blog posts, creating pages, and making layouts. WordPress 5.6 brings several improvements to the block editor.

Here are some of the most noticeable changes to the block editor in WordPress 5.6.

Video Position Control for The Cover Block

Previously cover block only showed position controls for images. With WordPress 5.6, the cover block now allows users to set video position inside the cover block.

Patterns Organized in Categories

The patterns panel under the ‘Add new block’ column now has a category switcher. This makes it super easy for users to find and use a pattern they need. Users will also be able to see the patterns available with their theme and distinguish them from the default patterns.

Keyword Variations to Improve Block Search

The block editor now allows developers to store keyword variations that may help users find a block. This would improve the block search feature and will allow users to discover blocks added by block libraries or third-party plugins.

Characters in The Information Panel

The information panel will now show characters along with words, paragraphs, and blocks used in your content.

Color Support for The Lists Block

The lists block now has the option to choose text and background colors without adding the list into another block.

Social Icons Block

Social Icons block has two improvements. First, there is a new gray style for social icon buttons. Secondly, users can now choose to open all links in the block in a new window.

Bonus: want to add social share counts? Here’s how to add social share counts in WordPress.

Editor Options are Now Called Preferences

The default block editor has a settings panel where you can set up the editor to your own liking. In WordPress 5.6, this modal is now called ‘Preferences’ instead of ‘Options’.

The modal itself now is more helpful with descriptions for different items. This would make it easier for beginners to decide which items they want to enable.

Automatic Updates for Major WordPress Releases

Earlier this year, WordPress 5.5 made it easier for users to turn on automatic updates for specific plugins. WordPress 5.6 extended this by adding the option to turn on automatic updates for major WordPress releases as well.

You can go to Dashboard » Updates page inside WordPress admin area and click on the ‘Enable automatic updates for all new versions of WordPress’ link.

This is totally optional for you to decide whether you want to enable this feature or not. If you are using a managed WordPress hosting, then you don’t need to worry about that as they will automatically update WordPress for you.

Support for PHP 8

WordPress is written mainly with the PHP programming language. Just like WordPress, PHP also releases new versions to improve performance, add features, and fix bugs.

They were expected to release PHP 8 on November 26 closer to the release of WordPress 5.6. The core team planned and worked hard to catch and fix any known compatibility issues with PHP 8.

This will ensure that users who upgrade to the latest PHP version will not face any major issues. However, theme and plugin developers may still need to test their own code for compatibility.

Application Passwords for REST API

The REST API in WordPress allows developers to communicate with a website outside the WordPress installation itself.

To keep it safe, WordPress used cookies and nonce keys to ensure that only legitimate users can access the API. For developers, these methods were not very efficient to work with.

WordPress 5.6 will allow developers to use application passwords in WordPress. Just like popular platforms Facebook and Google, the users can now give apps access to their website and manage it from the Users » Profile page. Users can also revoke an app’s access at any time.

Under The Hood Changes

WordPress 5.6 has arrived with tons of features and improvements targeted towards developers. The following are some of the most significant under the hood changes.

WordPress 5.6 continues the second phase of the three-step plan to upgrade the core jQuery bundled with WordPress. Theme and plugin developers relying on jQuery are already testing their code for any issues so it is not likely to affect large number of users. (See details)

The new 5.6 release also includes REST API Batch Framework for making a series of REST API calls in one request to the server. (See details)

A new action wp_after_insert_post is also available in WordPress 5.6. It allows theme and plugin developers to run custom code after a post and its terms and meta data have been updated. (See details)

WordPress 5.6 has replaced older-style PHP type conversion functions with type casts. (#42918)

WordPress 5.6 also introduced the ability to merge WP_Error objects into one another. This would allow developers to add more than one item of data to the WP_Error object. (#38777)

We hope this guide helped you explore what’s new in WordPress 5.6. We are particularly excited about the new default theme and the improvements made to the block editor.

What are you excited about? Let us know in the comments below.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post What’s New in WordPress 5.6 (Features and Screenshots) appeared first on WPBeginner.

December 09, 2020 at 05:33AM

7 Best Cloud Phone Systems for Remote Teams – Compared (2020)

Are you looking for the best cloud phone system for remote teams?

Cloud-based phone systems are a great option when your team members work remotely sometimes or work from home. Choosing the best cloud phone system is a very important decision because it can impact your business and customers.

In this article, we will compare the best cloud phone systems for remote teams with their features, pros, and cons.

What is a Cloud Phone System?

A cloud phone system is a business VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone system that allows you to make and receive business phone calls through your internet connection.

Because your phone calls are managed in the cloud over the internet, you and your employees can take calls from anywhere. You don’t need to be physically connected via a landline, as you would in a traditional phone system.

Cloud phone system is perfect for remote teams. Instead of employees giving out their personal cell phone number for business calls, they can receiving business phone calls using the virtual business phone number app on their cell phone.

That being said, here are the top cloud phone systems for remote teams.

1. Nextiva

Nextiva offers an excellent easy-to-use cloud phone system that’s ideal for remote teams. It comes with all the features and functionality you need for your business communications, such as unlimited free domestic calls, advanced call routing, voicemail to email and text, SMS messages, auto attendant, and online faxing.

The web-based admin panel is simple to use and manage. You get a free local or toll-free number, free number porting, and all the call management features you’d expect. These include caller ID, call forwarding, custom greetings, auto-attendant, advanced IVR (interactive voice response) system, and more.

Within the US and Canada, you have unlimited VoIP calling with Nextiva. For international calls, they have very affordable rates.

The Nextiva communication platform offers additional powerful features that integrate with your phone system. These include a fully-featured CRM and live chat, making Nextiva a Unified Communications system, also called a complete cloud platform.

Nextiva also offers online surveys and call analytics. The voice analytics software gives you real-time insights into phone activity across your organization. This lets you monitor call volumes and spot potential problems.

Larger companies, contact centers, and call centers often use Nextiva to transition their existing private branch exchange (PBX) system into a powerful cloud phone system.

You can use your existing desk phones with Nextiva, or you can buy IP phones for your remote team to use instead. Netiva also offers computer apps which work as a ‘softphone’, so your team can make voice calls through their computer.

Nextiva also have a business phone app that works on iPhones (iOS), and Android smart phones.

Most importantly, Nextiva gives you great call quality and connectivity through their incredibly reliable data centers. They have had no outages at all in the last two years.

If you ever need any help with your business phone service, their customer service team is always helpful and responsive.

Price: Nextiva starts from $19.95/user/month. The price per user varies depending on how many users you have.

Editorial Note: We use Nextiva for our team at WPBeginner and Awesome Motive. We’ve been huge fans of their platform and highly recommend them.

2. RingCentral

RingCentral is another popular cloud phone system for remote teams. Their feature-rich system includes all the standard options you’d expect, like unlimited calling, call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting, texts, online faxing, automatic call recording, and more.

You also get video conferencing with screen sharing, plus integration with Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), Dropbox, Microsoft Office365, Salesforce and other services. This can enable RingCentral to operate as the heart of your communications platform.

Like Nextiva, RingCentral will not charge you for calls in the US and Canada, no matter how many calls you make. Your team members can take calls through the RingCentral mobile or desktop app, giving them plenty of flexibility.

RingCentral also works as a cloud PBX or virtual PBX system, meaning incoming calls can easily be routed to the right department or extension. You can also add extra virtual phone lines as needed.

You can also use RingCentral to buy vanity phone numbers like 1-800-GoFedEX.

Price: RingCentral costs from $19.99/user/month, billed annually. There’s also a free 15-day trial available. This gives you a maximum of 5 users and 50 minutes of talk time per user.

3. Ooma

Ooma is a popular business VoIP provider that makes a great cloud communications solution for remote teams. It gives you lots of useful features like a virtual receptionist, extension dialing, hold music, a mobile app, a desktop app, and more.

You can add a toll-free number (1-800 number) for free. There are also toll-free calling plans, so you get more minutes of incoming toll-free calls per month.

It’s simple to get your cloud VoIP business phone system set up with Ooma. You have the option to keep your existing business phone number or get a new one from Ooma.

Ooma also operates as a cloud PBX or hosted PBX system. This means it’s easy to transfer calls and enable team collaboration between remote employees.

You can set up team members with their own phone, purchased from Ooma or from a third party. Alternatively, you can reduce the upfront costs by creating a new line that directs to the employee’s existing Android or iOS device.

Keep in mind that with any phone system, your team members will need a reasonable amount of bandwidth (upload speed) to make high-quality calls.

Price: Ooma costs from $19.95/user/month.

4. Grasshopper

Grasshopper is a great cloud phone system for small businesses. It gives you a virtual phone number that can forward calls to any phone number or mobile device.

You get all the features you’d expect, including call forwarding, routing, hold music, voicemail to email, and more. There’s a mobile app plus a desktop app, so it’s easy for your team to use while working remotely.

With Grasshopper, you are able to get a US or Canadian local or toll-free number. You can also add custom greetings and extensions. All Grasshopper’s plans include unlimited minutes, too.

A drawback with Grasshopper is that you can’t use it to make outgoing calls. You still need your regular phone number for that. Plus, Grasshopper is only available in the USA and Canada.

Price: Grasshopper costs from $26/month, billed annually. This is for one phone number, but you can add extensions.

5. Phone.com

Phone.com offers a simple web interface and mobile app to manage your cloud office phone system. Like the other phone system providers we’ve covered, they offer all the standard features you’d expect. These include call forwarding, call routing, caller ID, text messaging, voicemail to email, and more.

Phone.com includes Canada plus some European countries in their local call minutes. This makes calling out to those countries much cheaper.

With Phone.com, you can also pay for extra features including call recording and more phone numbers.

The cheapest plan limits you to 300 monthly minutes and 2,000 text messages. This may be enough for your business needs if your small company doesn’t make many calls.

There’s also 24/7 live customer support, in case you need help getting set up.

Price: Phone.com costs from $12.99/user/month.

6. Google Voice

Google Voice is a cloud phone system from Google. It offers all the features you need, like free calling to US and Canada numbers, call forwarding, voicemail transcription, text messaging, call screening, and more.

With Google Voice, you also get integration with Google Calendar, Google Fi, and Google Meet.

A Google Voice number can be used through cell phones or through the desktop app with a dial pad, letting your employees work on the go. They can set their Voice number to forward to their mobile phone or other devices.

Price: Google Voice is free for personal use. The business plans pricing is from $10/user/month.

7. eVoice

eVoice is another popular VoIP service provider. It offers unlimited calls, call routing, custom greeting, call forwarding, conference calling, text messages, voicemail to text, and more.

It’s a good option if your remote team is international or based in the UK, as eVoice offers coverage in the UK, EU, and Canada, as well as in the USA.

Note: eVoice is branded as eReceptionist in the UK.

Price: From $16.67/user/month (billed annually).

Which is the Best Cloud Phone System for Your Team?

We believe that Nextiva is the best cloud phone system for remote teams. It has lots of advanced features, and excellent support. You can easily add remote team members and set up call forwarding rules.

Nextiva’s mobile and desktop apps are easy to use. This makes it a great option for remote teams, when hands-on training is difficult.

Plus, Nextiva’s unified communication platform comes with built-in CRM and live chat features.

This is why we use Nextiva on WPBeginner and believe it’s the best cloud phone system in the market.

If you want an alternative to Nextiva, RingCentral is another excellent option. It has similar features and comes as a close second in our list.

We hope this article helped you learn about the best cloud phone systems for remote teams. You might also like our comparison of the best email marketing services and best push notification software to connect with your customers after they leave your website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 7 Best Cloud Phone Systems for Remote Teams – Compared (2020) appeared first on WPBeginner.

December 08, 2020 at 05:52PM

How to Submit Your Website to Search Engines (Beginner’s Guide)

Recently, one of our readers asked us how to submit their WordPress site to search engines like Google?

Search engines are the largest source of traffic for most websites. That’s why it is important to ensure that they can easily find and rank your website pages.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily submit your website to search engines and start getting traffic to your site.

Since this is a comprehensive guide, please feel free to use the quick links below to jump straight to different sections in this article.

• Do You Need to Submit Your Website to Search Engines?
• How to Submit Your Website to Google
• Creating a WordPress Sitemap with All in One SEO
• How to Submit Your Website to Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo
• How to Check if Your Website Has Been Indexed
• Should You Use a Website Submission Service?
• Troubleshooting and FAQs about Submitting Your Website to Search Engines

Do You Need to Submit Your Website to Search Engines?

No, you do not have to submit your website to search engines. Most search engine bots can automatically find your website if it has been mentioned on other sites.

However for WordPress websites, we recommend submitting it manually because it will help you get discovered faster.

Why you should submit your website to search engines?

If you are just starting a new business or a blog, then search engines are the most important source of free website traffic. This means you can grow your business online without a lot of money.

Unlike paid traffic from ads, organic search traffic is free, and you don’t need to pay search engines for that.

More importantly, the submission process is quite simple, free, and gives you access to several tools that will help you grow your business later on.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to submit your WordPress website to search engines.

Submitting Your Website to Google

Google is the largest and most popular search engine on the planet. For most websites, Google is often the biggest source of their traffic.

To submit your website to Google, you need to sign up for Google Search Console. It is a free tool offered by Google to help website owners see how their website is performing in search results.

Signing up is free and easy. Simply go to the Google Search Console website and click on the ‘Start now’ button.

You can use your existing Google account to sign in or create a new account.

Next, Google will prompt you to enter your website domain name. We recommend using the URL prefix option here as it’s easier to verify.

After choosing this option, use the HTML tag method to verify your website and submit it to Google. You simply need to click on the HTML tag option to expand it, and then copy the code by clicking the ‘Copy’ button.

Now there are multiple ways to do add this code to your website. We will show you the two easiest methods, and you can choose one that best suits you.

1. Adding Verification Code in WordPress using All in One SEO

The easiest way to do this is using All in One SEO, which is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market. It allows you to optimize your website for search engines without learning any SEO jargon.

First, you need to install and activate the All in One SEO plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Next, you need to visit the All in One SEO » General Settings » Webmaster Tools page and click on the Google Search Console option.

After that, you need to paste the content value from your HTML meta tag into the ‘Google Verification Code’ box. The part you want is the long string of numbers and letters.

Don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ button at the top of the screen.

2. Adding Verification Code in WordPress using Insert Headers and Footers

If you are not using the All in One SEO plugin, then you can use this method to add Google Search Console verification code to your WordPress site.

First, you need to install and activate the Insert Header and Footers plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to the Settings » Insert Headers and Footers page in your WordPress admin. Then, simply paste the whole HTML meta tag into the ‘Scripts in Header’ box.

Then, make sure you click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

After adding the meta tag to your site through either method, go back to Google Search Console and click the ‘Verify’ button for the HTML tag method.

You should now see a success message in Google Search Console to let you know that your site has been verified.

If you need more help, check out our step by step guide on adding your WordPress site to Google Search Console.

Creating an XML Sitemap with All in One SEO

An XML sitemap in WordPress is a list of all the content on your website, including all your posts and pages. It helps search engine bots discover your content faster and start showing it in search results.

In the WordPress 5.5 update, XML sitemaps were added as a built-in feature. However, these sitemaps are very basic and can’t be easily customized.

We recommend using All in One SEO to create your sitemap.

All in One SEO is the complete WordPress SEO toolkit and includes a comprehensive sitemaps generator.

It allows you to customize your XML sitemaps by excluding unnecessary or duplicate content. They also have powerful custom sitemap for WooCommerce, news sitemap, and video sitemaps. This gives you a bonus advantage in SEO as your business grows.

First, you need to install and activate the All in One SEO plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, All in One SEO will automatically create your sitemap.

To view it, simply go to the All in One SEO » Sitemaps page in your WordPress admin. Then, click the ‘Open Sitemap’ button.

You will then see the sitemap index for your site. This links to all the sitemaps that All in One SEO has created.

Note: All in One SEO creates multiple sitemaps because it is best practice to split up large sitemaps. By using different sitemaps for different types of content, your sitemaps will load quickly and be a manageable size even as your website grows.

Please keep this page open or save the page URL as you will need it later in the tutorial.

If you want, you can click on any of the links to see the content listed in each individual sitemap. Here is the sitemap for the pages on our demo website.

Add your XML Sitemap to Google Search Console

Now that you have generated your XML sitemap, the next step is to help Google discover it quickly.

The easiest way to do that is by using the Google Search Console.

Simply login to your Google Search Console account, and then click on the Sitemaps link in the left-hand toolbar:

Google Search Console has already put your website domain here. All you need to do is to type sitemap.xml into the box and click the Submit button.

Search Console should show you a message to let you know the sitemap has been successfully submitted. You will also see your website sitemap in the ‘Submitted sitemaps’ list.

How to Submit Your Website to Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo

Google totally dominates the search engine market with a whopping 92% market share. However, other search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo can still be a significant source of traffic for your website.

Submitting Your Website to Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo

To submit your website to Bing, you need to sign up for Bing Webmaster Tools.

Just click the Sign In button to get started. Then, sign in using your Microsoft, Google, or Facebook account.

Next, Bing will prompt you to add your site. We recommend using the ‘Add your site manually’ option. It works reliably and doesn’t require you to have verified your site with Google Search Console.

After that, simply enter your website’s domain name (URL) then click the ‘Add’ button.

Next, you will see some verification method options. First, click on the HTML Meta Tag method. This will open up the details. Then, click the ‘Copy’ button to copy the meta tag.

The easiest way to add the meta tag to your site is to use All in One SEO. In your WordPress dashboard, go to All in One SEO » General Settings » Webmaster Tools page.

Then, click on the Bing Webmaster Tools option.

This will open up the box where you can enter the Bing verification code. This is the long string of numbers and letters that forms the content value in the Bing meta tag.

Alternatively, you can install the free Insert Header and Footers plugin for WordPress.

Upon activation, go to the Settings » Insert Headers and Footers page in your WordPress admin. Then, simply paste the whole HTML meta tag into the ‘Scripts in Header’ box.

Don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button further down the page.

After that, you need to return to Bing Webmaster Tools and click the Verify button. You should see a success message to let you know your site has been added.

Next, click on the Sitemaps tab on the left-hand sidebar. Then, click the ‘Submit sitemap’ button.

You need to paste in the URL of the sitemap index that All in One SEO created for you. This should be your domain name with sitemap.xml at the end.

After that, just click the ‘Submit’ button.

You will now see your sitemap in the sitemap table in Bing Webmaster Tools.

Your Site Will Also Appear in Yahoo and DuckDuckGo’s Search Results

Now that you have submitted your website to Bing, it has also been automatically submitted to Yahoo.

DuckDuckGo also uses Bing’s search results. This means that by submitting your website to Bing, you will also get it indexed on DuckDuckGo as well.

How to Check if Your Website Has Been Indexed

The easiest way to check whether your website has been indexed is to simply go to your chosen search engine’s homepage and type in site:yoursitename.com as the search term.

For WPBeginner website, we would type site:wpbeginner.com into the search engine.

If your site has been indexed, then you should see a list of your content. Your homepage will normally be at the top.

This works for all popular search engines, including Google, Yahoo, Bing, and DuckDuckGo.

Should You Use a Website Submission Service?

No, you should not use a website submission service to submit your WordPress blog or website to search engines.

There is no additional benefit to using a website submission or search engine submission services. They charge you a premium fee to do something that is free, and you can do it yourself.

More importantly, these submission services may submit your website to spammy sources which may harm your website’s SEO.

Troubleshooting and FAQs about Submitting Your Website to Search Engines

Since WPBeginner is the largest free WordPress resource site, we have heard just about every question related to this topic. Here are some common problems and FAQs we hear about submitting your site to search engines.

1. How long will it take for my site to appear in search engines?

It could take several days or several weeks for your website to appear in search engines.

It is up to search engines to index your site. You cannot force Google or any search engine to index your site faster.

However, you should follow our instructions above to help search engines find your site as easily as possible. Getting plenty of backlinks to your site can also help speed up the process.

2. I submitted my website but it isn’t showing up in search engines?

First, check that your site is visible to search engines. In your WordPress admin, go to the Settings » Reading page and make sure that the box ‘Discourage search engines from indexing this site’ is not checked.

If the box is checked, then it is stopping search engines from crawling your WordPress site. Simply uncheck it then click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

If this setting is correct, then you simply need to be patient. It can take a day or so for Google Search Console to process your sitemap.

3. My site is listed on search engines but I am not getting any traffic?

If you are not getting traffic to your site, then that could be because it is ranking very low in search engine results. You should use All in One SEO to get detailed recommendations about your site’s SEO (search engine optimization).

In particular, it’s important to use keywords appropriately in your site’s content.

You can also use these keyword research tools to write more SEO optimized content, and implement our 27 proven tips to increase your website traffic.

4. How can I submit my website to search engines for free?

All the methods we have covered above are free. We recommend that you do not pay to have your site submitted to search engines.

It is free to create accounts with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Neither of these charges any money.

5. How do search engines find my site?

Search engines use automated software to constantly look through the web for new web pages. This software is often called: search bots, web crawler, or spider. The process of looking for new pages is called ‘crawling’.

The web crawler goes through links to find new pages. This is why an XML sitemap is so important. It has links to all the content on your site and information about them that the web crawler can understand.

6. Is there a submissions site list I can use?

You don’t need to worry about submitting to lots of search engines. The most important one is Google.

Once you have submitted your site to Google, it’s a good idea to also submit it to Bing. This helps Yahoo and DuckDuckGo find your site too.

The other search engines you should consider submitting to are local ones. For instance, you could submit your website to Yandex if you want to get more visitors from Russia.

7. How do I track website traffic coming from Search Engines?

The easiest way to track search engine traffic is by using MonsterInsights. It is the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress and allows you to see where your users are coming from, what pages they are viewing, and what they do while on your website.

For detailed instructions, follow our step by step guide on how to install Google Analytics in WordPress.

We hope this article helped you learn how to submit your website to search engines. You may also want to see our guide on the best email marketing services to connect with your visitors after they leave your site, and our expert list of the best WordPress plugins for all websites.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Submit Your Website to Search Engines (Beginner’s Guide) appeared first on WPBeginner.

December 07, 2020 at 07:33PM

14 Best WordPress SEO Plugins and Tools That You Should Use

Often we’re asked about what are the best WordPress SEO plugins and tools that we recommend.

That’s because search engines are a major source of traffic for most websites on the internet. Optimizing your website for search engines can help you rank higher in search results and significantly grow your business.

In this article, we will share the best WordPress SEO plugins and tools that you should use. Some of these tools offer similar functionalities, so we will also highlight which ones are the best for specific use-cases.

Things You Must Know About WordPress SEO Plugins & Tools

When reading SEO tips or searching for “best free WordPress SEO plugins”, you will come across articles that feature several dozen tools.

This can be quite overwhelming for beginners and non-techy users.

The truth is that you don’t need dozens of top SEO tools to get higher search rankings.

While most blog posts (including ours) will share the top most popular SEO plugins, it is extremely important for you to understand the use-cases of each tool.

For example, you never want to use more than one WordPress SEO plugin on your website. We will mention All in One SEO, Yoast SEO, SEOPress, and Rank Math. You need to pick only one to avoid plugin conflict.

We’ll mention SEMRush, Ahrefs, and few other powerful tools, but you don’t need them all when you’re first starting out since they have a similar feature set. We will share what tools we use in our business, and which features are the best among each tool.

With that said, let’s take a look at our expert pick of the best WordPress SEO plugins and tools.

1. All in One SEO for WordPress (AIOSEO)

All in One SEO for WordPress (AIOSEO) is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market. Used by over 2+ million users, it is the most comprehensive SEO toolkit that helps you improve search rankings without learning any complicated SEO jargon.

It comes with the easiest setup wizard that automatically helps you choose the best SEO settings for your business. AIOSEO shows you TruSEO on-page analysis with an actionable checklist to optimize your posts and pages.

The on-page SEO checklist includes a smart meta tag generator where you can use dynamic values (current year, month, day, custom fields, author info, and much more) in your SEO title and descriptions. This means you don’t need to update a post just to change SEO titles.

AIOSEO also comes with Rich snippet schema markup, smart XML sitemaps (with advanced controls), SEO health check, and other useful features to grow your search engine visibility.

There is a built-in social media integration to add Open Graph metadata as well. This means you can choose which image or thumbnail you want to show when your pages are shared on social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.

AIOSEO also comes with built-in WooCommerce SEO tools for eCommerce sites. This include features like dynamic optimizations, individual product page optimizations, product image SEO, and other handy features to bring more organic traffic to your online store.

For more SEO savvy users, it includes full control of RSS feeds, Robots.txt editor, local SEO, Google News sitemaps, video SEO, and more.

For business owners, it comes with SEO user roles, so you can manage access to important SEO features without handing over control of your website.

Overall, All in One SEO (AIOSEO) is the most beginner-friendly and comprehensive WordPress SEO plugin on the market. It eliminates the need to install multiple plugins to do things on your website and works perfectly for all types of businesses, eCommerce, blogs, news, and other websites.

2. SEMRush

SEMRush is the best overall SEO tool on the market. Used by professional SEO experts, marketers, bloggers, and businesses of all sizes, it provides a comprehensive set of tools to grow your traffic.

You can use it to find organic keywords and search terms that you can easily rank for. It also allows you to do competitive research and see which keywords your competitors rank for, and how you can beat them.

SEMRush SEO Writing Assistant tool helps you improve your website content to beat the top 10 results for your focus keyword. It integrates with WordPress, and this will help you write more SEO friendly content.

To learn more, see our complete guide on how to do keyword research for your website.

We use SEMRush for our websites because of their competitive intelligence and SEO rank tracker features.

3. Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool offered by Google to help website owners monitor and maintain their site’s presence in Google search results.

It alerts you when Google is unable to crawl and index pages on your website. You also get helpful tips on how to fix those crawl errors.

Most importantly, it shows which keywords your website is ranking for, anchor texts, average position, impressions, and more. You can use this data to find keywords where you can easily rank higher by simply optimizing your content. You can also use this keyword data to come up with new blog post ideas.

For more details, see our comprehensive Google Search Console guide for beginners.

Tip: You can use MonsterInsights to track your keyword rankings inside WordPress admin area using Google Seach Console data.

MonsterInsights, another tool we’ll mention later, helps you bring the Search Console reports right inside your WordPress dashboard for easy access.

4. Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO is a popular WordPress SEO plugin that allows you to optimize your WordPRess website for search engines.

It lets you easily add SEO titles and descriptions to all posts and pages on your website. You can also use it to add Open Graph metadata and social media images to your articles.

Yoast SEO automatically generates an XML sitemap for all your website content which makes it easier for search engines to crawl your website. It also helps you easily import your SEO data if you have been using another SEO plugin.

For more details, see our complete guide on how to install and setup Yoast SEO plugin in WordPress.

5. Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner tool helps you generate your own keyword ideas from Google itself.

No one on the planet has more insights into what people are searching for than the search giant Google. This free tool is offered to Google’s advertisers for free and anyone can use it. Its main purpose is to show advertisers the keywords they can bid on for their advertising campaigns.

It also helps advertisers choose the right keywords by showing them an estimate of search volume, number of results, and difficulty level.

As a content marketer or blogger, you can use this data to find keywords with high search volume, high advertiser interest, and more importantly keywords where you can easily outrank all other sites.

Bonus: See these 103 Blog Post Ideas that your Readers will Love (Cheat Sheet).

6. Ahrefs

Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO tool for marketers, bloggers, and businesses. It is a popular alternative to SEMRush and offers a lot of similar tools and features.

It allows you to do keyword research, competition analysis, backlink research, monitor keyword rankings, and more.

It also offers a detailed content analysis tool that helps you improve content while targeting specific keywords.

While there’s a huge feature overlap, what Ahrefs does really well is backlink analysis. We can use it to see which sites are linking to multiple competitors, but not us. This helps us get more backlinks and build more partnerships.

They also help us identify which content multiple of our competitors are ranking for that we aren’t, so we can create content on those subjects to get more exposure.

Last but not least, Ahrefs helps us better identify duplicate content and keyword cannibalization which helps us merge and upgrade the right content to boost our rankings.

For the reasons above, we pay for both SEMRush and Ahrefs because they’re both good for specific use-cases.

7. SEOPress

SEOPress is another simple yet powerful WordPress SEO plugin. It includes all the features you would expect from an SEO plugin like meta title, description, open graph support, image and content XML sitemaps, redirects, and more.

It comes with a straightforward setup for beginners and advanced controls for more experienced users. It is comparable to other top WordPress SEO plugins on the market in terms of features and options.

The paid version of the plugin is cheaper than some other premium WordPress SEO plugins on the market.

Note: SEOPress is a WordPress SEO plugin. Remember, you only need one WordPress SEO plugin on your site.

8. Rank Math

Rank Math is a fast-growing user-friendly WordPress SEO plugin that allows you to optimize your website for search engines and social media. It comes with a setup wizard and allows you to import data from other SEO plugins during the setup.

You can use it to easily add meta title, description, and Open Graph metadata to your blog posts. The plugin also allows you to generate an XML sitemap, connect Google Search Console, and control access to plugin features based on user roles.

Note: Rank Math is a Yoast SEO alternative. Remember, you only need one WordPress SEO plugin on your site.

9. Schema Pro

Schema Pro allows you to add rich snippets to your website which makes it stand out in search results.

Rich Snippets allow you to make your website stand out in search results by showing star ratings below a review, prices below a product, image or video next to the description, and so on.

Top WordPress SEO plugins, like All in One SEO (AIOSEO) already add structured rich snippets data to your website. However, if you need more schema types or want to extend the functionality of your existing WordPress SEO plugin then Schema Pro is the way to go.

Schema Pro also allows you to use it alongside your existing WordPress SEO plugin by mapping the plugin data to Schema Pro fields.

10. KeywordTool.io

KeywordTool.io is one of the best free keyword research tools available right now. It allows you to simply generate keyword ideas by typing in a keyword. These keyword suggestions are gathered from Google’s autosuggest feature. It also shows you keyword suggestions from Bing, YouTube, Amazon, and more.

These keyword suggestions are a treasure of information. You can also get search volume, cost per click, and other data for each keyword by upgrading to their paid plan.

11. Redirection

Redirection helps you set up SEO friendly redirects in WordPress. It is one of the most handy WordPress plugins that helps you easily fix 404 errors in WordPress by setting up redirects.

Broken links can affect your site’s SEO and create a bad experience for your users. If you have been running a blog for some time, then you should check your site from time to time for broken links and fix them.

There are multiple ways to easily find broken links in WordPress. Once you find a broken link, you may need to fix it by pointing users to the correct link or removing the incorrect link.

For more details, see our step by step guide on how to find and fix broken links in WordPress.

12. SEOquake

SEOQuake is a useful SEO tool for website owners. It is available as a browser add-on for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Safari web browsers.

It provides SEO related information for any website. This data includes page health, age, last updated, Alexa rank, and many other parameters. It is one of the most downloaded browser addons by SEO professionals.

Apart from that, the SEOquake toolbar can show you all the same data search results when you type in a keyword. This information can be extremely useful if you are gauging competition for different keywords. You can even download search results in CSV format and prepare your own excel sheets of search data.

Alternative: Ahrefs SEO Toolbar

Bonus Plugins for WordPress Website Owners

These tools give you the additional advantage when optimizing your website for SEO. They do not advertise themselves as SEO tools but they are essential for every website and play a significant role in your website’s search performance.

13. WP Rocket

Site speed is a major factor in search rankings. That’s why you need to monitor your website speed & performance to make sure it’s not affecting your SEO.

The easiest way to boost your website speed is by enabling caching. WP Rocket is the best WordPress caching plugin on the market, which allows you to set up caching without diving into any technical stuff.

Alternative: WP Super Cache

14. MonsterInsights

Many beginners rely on their best guess to make their marketing decisions. You don’t need to do that when you can easily get the insights you need to improve your website’s SEO strategy.

MonsterInsights is the bets Google Analytics plugin for WordPress. It allows you to easily install Google Analytics in WordPress and shows human-readable reports inside your WordPress dashboard.

It tells you where your users are coming from, your top content, what users do on your website, and more. It also allows you to track your eCommerce SEO by seeing which products are popular and where you are losing customers.

Bonus tip: See what other marketing data you must track on your website to grow your business.

Other Powerful Growth Tools:

Aside from the above plugins, we also recommend the following tools to increase your traffic and conversions from SEO visitors:

• PushEngage – connect and engage with SEO visitors after they leave your website with web push notifications.
• OptinMonster – convert abandoning visitors into email subscribers & customers.
• Constant Contact – stay in touch with SEO visitors through email marketing.
• WPForms – get more leads from your SEO traffic with #1 WordPress form builder.
• SeedProd – create SEO friendly custom landing pages with drag & drop WordPress page builder (no coding needed).

We hope this article helped you find the best WordPress SEO plugins and tools for your website. You may also want to see our proven tips to easily increase your website traffic, and our comparison of best chatbot software to boost conversions.

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The post 14 Best WordPress SEO Plugins and Tools That You Should Use appeared first on WPBeginner.

December 04, 2020 at 06:00PM